SPORTS PEOPLE

SPORTS PEOPLE; Stern Nearing Deal

Published: August 2, 1988

David Stern, the National Basketball Association commissioner, will return from the Soviet Union this week, and a report says that an agreement is near that would allow two Russian players to play professional basketball in the United States after the Olympic Games.

The Atlanta Constitution reported Sunday that the N.B.A. and Soviet sports officials are close to an arrangement under which Arvydas Sabonis, a center, would play for the Portland Trail Blazers, and Sharunas Marchulenis, a guard, would play for the Atlanta Hawks.

Gary Bettman, the N.B.A.'s general counsel, said in New York yesterday that there has been discussion on ''a wide range of subjects, including . . . the possibility of and circumstances under which Soviet players may play in the N.B.A.''(AP)